Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia
The Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia, dated 19 February 1836 and formally titled "Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom erecting and establishing the Province of South Australia and fixing the boundaries thereof", was presented to
History
The South Australia Act 1834 legislated for the establishment of a settlement in South Australia, but did not provide specific directions with regard to how the Province of South Australia was to be founded, which these Letters Patent, formulated by the
These
However, laws could only be proposed by the Governor and were subject to approval or disallowance by the King as advised by the Imperial Government. The Order-in-Council again expressly protected the rights of "Aboriginal natives".[3]
Description
The Letters Patent, long title "Letters Patent under the
On the North the twenty sixth Degree of South Latitude — On the South the Southern Ocean — On the West the one hundred and thirty second Degree of East Longitude — And on the East the one hundred and forty first Degree of East Longitude including therein all and every the Bays and Gulfs thereof together with the Island called Kangaroo Island and all and every the Islands adjacent to the said last mentioned Island or to that part of the main Land of the said Province.
The Letters Patent included a recognition of the rights of the "Aboriginal Natives" to live within the lands of the Province of South Australia:
Provided Always that nothing in those our Letters Patent contained shall affect or be construed to affect the rights of any Aboriginal Natives of the said Province to the actual occupation or enjoyment in their own Persons or in the Persons of their Descendants of any Lands therein now actually occupied or enjoyed by such Natives.
This differed from the statements of the
Afterwards
The first migrant ship, the
On 31 July 1838, the changes were brought into law by "An act to amend an act of the fourth and fifth years of his late majesty empowering his majesty to erect South Australia into a British province or provinces" (short name ascribed by the
Significance to Aboriginal people
As colonisation proceeded, no heed was paid to the words of the Letters Patent about Aboriginal rights to land: there were no treaties signed; colonists bought, leased and were granted land, thus effectively dispossessing the original inhabitants of their land.[6]
In 1966, Premier
).From the early 21st century, research focused on the potential legal implications of this disregard of the Letters, and the document again became a source of debate.[6]
On
The 175th anniversary of the Letters Patent was commemorated at the
The 2014 film King's Seal tells of the struggle for recognition of rights that were granted by the Letters Patent.[10][11]
2018 Kaurna native title agreement
On 21 March 2018, a
See also
- Aboriginal land rights in Australia
- Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966
- British colonisation of South Australia
- Native title in Australia
- South Australia–Victoria border dispute
References
- ^ a b c Paul, Mandy (9 December 2013). "Letters Patent". Adelaidia. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Order-in-Council Establishing Government 23 February 1836 (UK)". Museum of Australian Democracy. Documenting a democracy. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ a b Draft of the Order-in-Council Establishing Government 23 February 1836 (UK), National Archives of Australia
- ^ Fischer, G.L. (1966). "South Australian Colonization Act and other related constitutional documents". Adelaide Law Review. 2 (3): 360–372. Retrieved 5 November 2019 – via Austlii.
- ^ Great Britain (1838), An act to amend an act of the fourth and fifth years of His Majesty, empowering His Majesty to erect South Australia into a British province or provinces : 31st July 1838, Printed by George Eyre and Andrew Spottiswoode, retrieved 5 November 2019
- ^ a b "Letters Patent". Adelaidia. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ a b Scott, Scott (3 May 2007). "Aboriginal Rights Page 6: Your house is not our house". Welcome to SA Memory. State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Great Britain (1838), An act to amend an act of the fourth and fifth years of His Majesty, empowering His Majesty to erect South Australia into a British province or provinces : 31st July 1838, Printed by George Eyre and Andrew Spottiswoode, retrieved 5 November 2019
- ^ "Warriparinga Living Cultural Centre". Letters Patent Day. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Mavromatis, Kim (director); Agius, Quenten (director); Goldsmith, Stephen Gadlabarti (producer) (2014), King's seal, MAV Media, retrieved 28 January 2020
- ^ Mavromatis, Kim (25 January 2020). "Watch King's Seal Online". Vimeo. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ ""Our ancestors will be smiling": Kaurna people gain native title rights". InDaily. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
Kaurna people have been granted native title rights over the Adelaide Plains and metropolitan area in the first such claim to be accepted in an Australian capital city.
Sources
Further reading
- Berg, Shaun, ed. (2010). Coming to terms : Aboriginal title in South Australia. Wakefield Press. ISBN 9781862548671.
- "Walker v State of South Australia (No 2) [2013] FCA 700 (2013)". Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 17 January 2019.
His Honour quotes Kirby in Fejo, who dismissed an argument that the Letters Patent Proviso provides any protection for the rights of Aboriginal People to the occupation or enjoyment of their lands.
– refers to Fejo v Northern Territory (1998) 195 CLR 96. (This case is based on s 61 Native Title Act 1993 (Cth).)